Revoluble sign and means for operating the same



Nov. 26, 1935. C. F. @ONS 2,022,105

REVOLUBLE SIGN AND MEANS FOR OPERATING THE SAME Filed July 16, 1954 @zog/@3 ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 26, 1935 UNITED STATES" REVOLUBLE SIGN AND MEANSFOR OPERATING THE Cecil F. Ccons, Los Angeles', Calif., assignor of 4 forty-two per cent to Lou Kay, Los Angeles, y,

Calif.

Application July-16, 1934, Serial No. 735,410 t Claims.

'I'his invention relates to revoluble signs and particularly to the supporting and operating means therefor.

It is an object of applicants invention, to pro- 5 vide a revoluble sign in which the power means therefor is carried by said sign and is operatively connected with a stationary supporting member, whereby to eifect the rotation of said sign on its support. l

Another object of the invention is the provision of a sign revolubly mounted on the upper end of a stationary supporting standard, which extends into the sign, with driving means within said sign for eiTecting its rotation about said stationary support;- toy further provide such a sign which is pivotally suspended from the upper end of a stationary standard which extends into said sign, with means at the lower portion thereof for restraining it against lateral movement; to still further provide within said sign means xedly mounted on the stationary member, with power means carried within the sign and operatively connected with said fixed means, whereby to elect the rotation of said sign about its stationary support; and to further provide cooperating bearing means on the sign and also on the end of its stationary support for revolubly mounting said sign and facilitating inthe erection ofA said sign on the support.

Still another object, is to provide a revoluble sign and supporting structure which is economical to manufacture, easy to erect and which presents a neat appearing unit in which the supporting and driving units are hidden from view. i

This invention possesses many other advantages and has other objects which may be made more easily apparent fromv a consideration of one embodiment thereof. For this purpose I have shown one form in the'accompanying drawing 40 which forms part of the present specification; I

shall now proceedv to describe this form in detail,A which illustrates thegeneral principles of my invention; but it is toi be understood that this description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of the invention is best deiined in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Y Figure 1 is a front elevation of a revoluble sign embodying my invention, withV a portion broken away to show the means for supporting and operating 'the same.A

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, showing the sign mounting means and taken as indicated by line 2-2 of Figure 1. 65 Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional Yview taken as indicated by line 3-3 o f Figure 1 and;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the driving mechanism and taken as indicated by line 4-4 of Figure 1. 5 ReferringY more in particular to the drawing, Figuresl and-2 show a sign I!! in the form'of a closed box, mounted for rotation on the upper end of a stationary supporting member I I, which extends into. said box through an opening in the V` bottom thereof. I prefer'to make the box of sheet-metal, with spacedsides I2-'I2 for. receiving the advertising'matter, 'and a channel I3 between said sides, which forms the yends and also the top I4 and bottom I5 of said sign box.

'Ihe vmeans for revolubly mounting the sign box on the stationary` supporting member II, is best shown in Figure 2. A head member I6 is secured to thetop I4 of the sign box, as by bolts I'I-I'I passing through angle member I 8-I8 20 which form a part of thebox structure. The un der side of the head member I6 is provided with a recess I9 to receive the outer race of a suitable ball bearing structure, generally designated 20. Applicant finds it convenient and practicalin many instances, to use a tubular supporting member for the sign box Aas illustrated in the drawing. A member 2| is'supported on the upper end of the tubular supporting member I I and has a .reduced portion 22 thereon which. extends 30 down into said tube as clearly shown in Figure 2. A boss 23V on the member 2|, extends upwardly into the inner race of the ball bearing structure. Thus it will be seen lfrom the foregoing description, how the sign is permitted to rotate freely with respect tothe stationary support upon which it is fmounted.

The bottom ofthe'sign box I0 is supported againstlateral movement by the aid of rollers 24-24, which are` carried thereby and bear 40 aga-inst the tubular supporting member I I as the sign is rotated around the same. As shown in Figure 4, the rollers 24--24 are supported in brackets 25-25 which are mounted onv the frame 26 on the sign bottom.. l Figures l and 4 show the mechanism for eiectingy the rotation of the sign around its stationary support. A large sprocket wheel 21 is stationarily mounted on the tubular supporting member II kand wthin'the sign box. It is heldthereon by 50 the aidof angle members 28-28, which are Welded 'or otherwise suitably connected to the sprocket and secured to the support II as by bolts ZIJ- 29. Also supported within the sign box and on the bottom thereof, is provided a reduction unit 30 litiY supporting member having a sprocket 3|, which is connected with the stationary sprocket wheel 21 as by a chain 32. The power means for operating the reduction unit is an electric motor 33, with belt 34 engaging pulleys 35 and 36 on the reduction unit and motor respectively. Upon actuation of the driving means, it will be clear how the sign box is rotated about the stationary supporting member In the drawing the sign |0 is indicated as being of an illuminative nature and is provided with an ornamental luminous tube border 31. Figures l, 2 and 3 best show the means of conducting electrical current to the revoluble sign for operating both the luminous element and the power means of the driving mechanism. It includes a number of collector rings 38-38 which encircle the stationary support and are supported by insulating arms 39-39 depending from the stationary member 2| on the upper end of the support II. Figure 2 shows these arms secured to the member 2l by screws l0-40, with the collector rings riveted thereto. Brush members 4|4| for collecting current from the rings, are mounted one above the other on an insulating strip 42, which is secured to the revoluble head member I6 in a manner shown in Figure 1.

The construction of the brushes 4 I-4| are best shown in Figure 3. They are formed from resil'- ient strips bent into a V-shape, so that the two arms 43-43 haveatendency to spring toward each other, thereby assuring a good electrical contact with the collector rings at all times. The brushes are held on the insulating strip 42 by bolts 44-44, which serve also as the brush terminals. Thumb nuts 45-45 are provided on the bolts 44 for holding the electrical wires thereon. Leads 45a from any suitable electrical source, are connected with the stationary collector rings and circuits 46 and 41 for operating the motor 33 and luminous tube element 31, are taken from the brush terminals,

alll of which is clearly shown in the Figure I of the drawing.

The practicability of applicants invention from a commercial standpoint will be apparent. The sign box with its cooperating mounting members IB and 2| together with the supporting rollers 24-24 and driving mechanism, can all be assembled in the shop before it is taken on the job. This unit can then be mounted on the stationary by lowering it thereover until the depending portion 22 of the member 2| enters the top of said tubular support. Applicants invention can be adapted to locations where space will not permit the erection of the i structural framework required for revoluble signs now in use, where the supporting means .is revoluble and must accordingly be supported for rotation. With the use o-f applicants stationary supporting standard, the necessity for this structural' framework is overcome.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, in combination, a sign comprising `a box structure having advertising matter on the faces thereof, a fixed supporting standard extending into vsaid sign, a bearing member on the upper end of said support, a cooperating bearing member carried on the upper portion of the sign which is seated on'said nrst bearing member, whereby said sign is revolubly suspended from the upper end of the xed supporting standard, bearing means at the lower portion of said sign for supporting it against lateral movement, a xed sprocket mounted on the supporting standard, power means carried within the sign and revoluble therewith and a chain connecting said power means with said xed sprocket whereby to effect the rotation of said sign and its power means about the fixed supporting standard.

2. In a device of the character described, in combination, a sign comprising a closed box structure, a xed tubular supporting standard extending into said sign, a bearing member on the upper end of said support, a cooperating bearing member at the upper portion of the sign which is seated on said rst bearing member, whereby said sign is revolubly suspended from the upper end of the fixed supporting standard, bearing means carried on the lower portion of the sign which is adapted to bear against the tubular support for supporting the sign against lateral movement as it rotates about said support, a fixed sprocket concentrically mounted on the tubular support, power means carried within the sign and revoluble therewith and a. chain connect-ing said power means with said iixedV sprocket whereby to effect the rotation of the sign on its support.

3. In a device of the character described, in combination, a sign structure, a fixed support therefor, a bearing member at the upper end of said support, a cooperating bearing member on the upper portion of the sign which is seated on said nrst bearing member, whereby said sign is revolubly suspended from the upper end of said fixed support, bearing means at the lower portion of said sign for supporting it against lateral movement, a fixed sprocket mounted on the support, power means carried on the sign and revoluble therewith, and a. chain connecting said power means with said fixed sprocket, whereby to effect the rotation of said sign and its power means about the xed support.

4. In a device of the character described, in combination, a sign structure, a iixed support therefor, lcooperative bearing means between the upper end of said support and said sign structure for revolubly supporting the weight of said sign r structure, further cooperative bearing means between the fixed support and sign structure for supporting said sign laterally, a fixed sprocket mounted on said support, power means carried on the sign and revoluble therewith, and a chain connecting said power means with said xed sprocket, whereby to effect the rotation of said sign and its power means about said xed support.

5. In a device of the character described, in combination, a sign structure having `thereon elements to be illuminated, a xed support for said sign structure, cooperative bearing I neans between the upper ends of said sign structure and said sup-port for revolubly suspending said sign structure, further cooperative bearing means between the sign support and lower end of said sign for restraining the sign againstlateral move- 

